Dust Devil
by Made of socks
Summary: An encounter in the feudal era leads to what may be more than a simple case of forgetfulness. Under heavy revisions previous title being Foreshadowing.
1. Default Chapter

It was a sunny day. Tokyo was alive for the day, the soft hum of cars on the road nearby filtering in through the windows of the high school along with the sunlight. The classroom wasn't overly hot, but it was rather stuffy.

Kagome didn't notice this as she sat at her desk, trying to keep her waning attention on the sensei. It wasn't quite working. Trigonometric equations, free radicals… she hadn't kept up well enough, it seemed. All this was just going right over her head.

She had taken advantage of a lull in the feudal era to go back home. It was warm there, too, and the languor of a hot sunny day seemed to affect everyone; including Naraku, who hadn't been doing much of anything lately. _Anyway_, she thought, propping her chin on her hand, _if anything happens back there, Inuyasha will just come to get me_. She smiled.

_He'll probably come to get me anyway. He's stubborn that way._ Her smile broadened as she remembered leaving. He hadn't complained nearly as much as she'd expected, even escorting her to the well and giving her a curt goodbye… though not before making her promise to return soon. Of course, she'd agreed—wouldn't he know by now that she could never stay away?

"Higurashi!"

She jumped to see her sensei looking down at her sternly. "If you can't keep your mind on your studies, I will have to ask you to stand in the hall," he told her. As he looked down at her his eyes softened briefly. "Or perhaps to the nurse's office."

_Ah! He thinks I'm still ill!_ "Oh, no, sensei, I'm fine! Really!" she said frantically. _Darn jii-chan and his excuses!_ she thought angrily.

He turned back to the equations on the blackboard and began to speak again. Kagome made a real effort to keep her mind on the numbers, and succeeded for all of three minutes before falling into the same stupor as before. _I wonder if Inuyasha's as bored as I am_, she thought absently. _He always was impatient. It _is _nice to get away from it all for a few days, but he'll go stir-crazy if I don't go back soon._ She found that the smile had made its way back onto her face. _Maybe I'll get him some ramen, as reward for being so nice about my leaving this time_.

**:00:**

Inuyasha was dozing lightly against the trunk of Goshinboku. The shade of the tree's branches provided welcome relief from the sun's rays, and yet there was still enough space for the occasional breeze to make its way in.

He shifted slightly, a lock of silver hair falling over one shoulder. It was far too hot out. He could only wonder what it would be like in Kagome's world, where the air smelt of those awful metal contraptions' exhaust. It _always_ felt too hot there.

"Inuyasha?" came a voice from below. He didn't reply. "Inuyasha?" said the voice again. Miroku tapped his staff against the ground, waiting. "I know you're up there, Inuyasha. There's no use in ignoring me."

"Go away, bouzu," he said without opening his eyes.

"Kaede-sama wishes to see you," said Miroku from below. "Come down, Inuyasha."

"Nothing doing," said Inuyasha, opening his eyes just enough to glare balefully down through the branches. The monk couldn't see him, but that didn't mean the sentiment wasn't there. "It's too hot down there."

Miroku sighed. "I would like to leave you alone, but Kaede-sama tells me it is important. Something to do with an attack…"

"Bouzu." In a blur of red and silver, Inuyasha suddenly appeared directly in front of the monk. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" He set off at a slow walking pace towards the village, turning after a few steps to look at Miroku. "Coming?"

Miroku grinned inwardly. "Certainly."

Back in Kaede's hut, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and the old woman herself were waiting for the two. Miroku took his seat beside Sango, who eyed him suspiciously for a moment before turning back to Kaede, stroking Kirara's fur gently. Inuyasha sat down crosslegged on the floor near the doorway.

"So, Kaede-babaa," said Inuyasha. "What's going on?"

"I am glad that thou troubled thyself to come, Inuyasha," said Kaede. "There have been reports coming in recently of youkai attacks on a village four miles away. Very strange reports—"

"Keh! What the hell does that mean, old lady! Youkai attack all the time! It's no concern of ours," said Inuyasha irritably. He stood abruptly. "I'm going back outside."

"Do not be so hasty," said Kaede. She looked around at the others in the group. Inuyasha huffed, but didn't leave.

"As I said before, these did not strike me as ordinary attacks," she said. "The few survivors who made it here seemed to be telling wild tales— that there was a strange feeling of evil power in the air, that the slain rose up again to attack their kinsfolk …"

"Kagura," murmured Sango, her hand tightening in Kirara's fur. Inuyasha looked at her in surprise.

"Do you believe this to be one of Naraku's attacks?" Miroku asked Kaede. The old woman did not say anything, and Miroku leaned back against the wall, letting out a long breath. "But we didn't sense anything," he said slowly.

"That's because Kagome's back in her own world!" said Shippou, speaking up. His wide green eyes were frightened. "And it's too far away for any of us to have sensed it…"

"Did the survivors say anything else?" said Miroku. "Who led the attack, for instance?"

"Nary a word," said Kaede, shaking her head. "It is true, though, that they were near death, and hardly in their right minds. Perhaps there is something that they did not get a chance to say…" Suddenly she looked up sharply as a shadow moved across the doorway. "Inuyasha! Where be thou going?"

"Where do you think, hag?" said Inuyasha, turning his head to glare at her as he walked out of the hut. "I'm going to get Kagome back."

"Good idea," said Miroku, standing too with a slight jangling as the rings on his shakujou clinked together. "We had best ready ourselves for a journey, so that we can leave soon after Kagome-sama returns."

"All right," said Sango, letting Kirara off her lap. She sighed. "I suppose we couldn't have really expected Naraku to lay low for so long." She shivered slightly. The dead walking again… if Kohaku were somehow involved in this…

"At the very least, consolation is nearby," said Miroku, close to her ear.

"Hm?" she said, starting to turn to him—and stiffened suddenly as she felt a slight pressure on her backside. Kaede shook her head slowly as she covered Shippou's eyes.

"HENTAI!"

Inuyasha let out a small snicker as the sound of a slap followed him into the forest. _Idiot bouzu just can't keep his hands to himself_, he thought.

Arriving in the clearing in a matter of seconds, he put both hands onto the edge of the well and looked down into it for long seconds. _Well, Kagome, off to another fight,_ he thought briefly, then vaulted over the wooden edge and into the darkness waiting within.

Kagome hefted her backpack over one shoulder and groaned slightly. She loved her backpack, she really did, but sometimes its weight was almost enough to make her forget its usefulness. She kept it filled pretty much to capacity: in addition to school texts and other books, she also kept all of her personal accessories in it, as well as a smallish first aid kit and a few spare clothes—and now she had filled up all of the remaining space with food. She had gotten Inuyasha his ramen, as well, as some treats for Shippou, and now the bag was all but bringing her to her knees.

_Well, just get it home again, and you don't need to think about how stupid you were to bring it with you to school,_ she thought. _And it's hot to boot. Darn weather. It's not even summer!_

"Oi! Kagome!"

She turned around to see Ayumi, Eri and Yuka running towards her.

"Well, Kagome-chan, it's good to see you back in school!" said Eri happily, tilting her head so that her straight hair brushed her shoulder. "You got over your ebola, I see!"

Kagome could only smile and nod, somewhat painfully. _Jii-chan!_ She thought furiously. _Someday I will have to talk to you about these excuses!_ "Better than ever now," she said, shifting her bag slightly. "Don't worry about that."

"How 'bout your violent, two-timing boyfriend?" said Yuka, watching Kagome's face intently even while she joked. "If he caused any trouble while you were sick…"

"Don't worry about that either," said Kagome quickly. "I think I'd better get home now though," she said brightly to the three. "This bag is really heavy."

"Well then didn't you just leave it at home?" said a familiar voice from behind her, even as she felt the weight being lifted from her shoulders. She spun round.

"Inuyasha!"

"Oh! It's Inuyasha-kun!" said Eri in delight.

"The violent one," said Yuka, giggling.

Inuyasha threw her a disgruntled look, slinging Kagome's bag over his shoulder and looking slightly disgruntled. He was wearing his baseball cap, Kagome was glad to notice—he must have gone through her house before coming to find her. "Kagome, we've got to leave."

"Okay," said Kagome. She turned again to wave to her friends. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

Inuyasha waited until they were out of sight of the four girls before scooping Kagome up and leaping off with her. "Oi, Kagome," he said, jumping off a rooftop. "What was that girl saying about me, just there?"

"Hm?" Kagome looked up at the edge of his chin, which was all she could see of his face. "Which one? Yuka-chan?"

He snorted. "Doesn't matter which. The one with short hair. She said something about…"

"Oh, it was probably nothing," said Kagome. A bit of his hair was dangling in front of her face, a long silver mass of it, whipping slightly in the wind. She struggled against the urge to pull on it.

He scowled. "Well it must have been something, or you wouldn't be trying to cover up for it would you?"

She blinked. _Cover up for… he actually noticed that? Eri, Yuka and Ayumi all used to be under the impression that Inuyasha was a big jerk, right up until they actually met him. Or at least, I _thought_ they'd changed their opinions__…__ maybe Yuka was joing. And now he thinks that…_ "Baka," she told him lightly. "I'm not covering up for anything."

He landed in the middle of the courtyard between Kagome's home and the well-house, depositing her on the ground in front of him and folding his arms across his chest. "You are so," he said. "You can't fool me that easily."

"I told you, it was nothing," she said, and then quickly hurried to say something else before he could argue again. "Well, aren't we going back?"

"Of course," he said, hauling her bag onto his shoulder and starting towards the well-house. At the sound of her retreating footsteps he whirled to face her. "HEY! Where the hell are you going?"

She turned to look at him as she jogged back towards her house. "I'm going to say goodbye to my mother," she said. "Wait there."

He growled faintly to himself and walked into the well-house to sit on the edge of the well. _Stupid girl. It's too hot for this sort of thing._

Kagome was halfway into her house before she remembered something… Yuka had called Inuyasha her boyfriend. Out loud. Inuyasha _had_ to have noticed, but he seemed more concerned with the violent bit than with… _that_. Could that mean that…?

**:00: **

Inuyasha looked around the well-house, bored, as he waited for Kagome. It was dark, and blissfully shady—though still saturated with the heat from outside.

He prodded her bag with one clawed finger. Kagome had said it was heavy earlier… it didn't feel heavy to him, but then it wouldn't anyway. He was hanyou, after all, and stronger than any human. He frowned as he poked the bag again. His finger didn't even dent the stretched yellow fabric. It was too full.

What had she put in it? Curious, he fiddled with the straps holding it closed, managing to open them without any damage. His eyes were greeted by the sight of textbooks, as many as Kagome could fit into the top half of her bag. He snorted. He'd seen her reading the things. After she looked in one of them, she was nearly always upset.

But she always would insist on reading them anyway. _Well, let's see what she does without them,_ he thought, grinning to himself. He began to pull the books out, two at a time, laying them in the corner of the well-house. He might have buried them, but the dirt would have given him away.

After removing most of the books, he noticed a small cup at the bottom… pushing aside the remaining books, he grinned. Ramen. She must have bought it recently; they looked new, anyway, or at least as new as they could when they had been crushed beneath all of those books. And they still smelled like the store where she bought them. Pushing the books back into place, he carefully managed to close the bag again, and sat back to review his handiwork.

_She needs to concentrate more on the things that need doing, and not some pieces of scrap paper,_ he thought, almost defensively against the slight guilt that he was now feeling. _Besides, they only make her upset anyway_.

He only had to wait a couple of minutes before Kagome jogged back into the well-house. "All right, let's go," she said brightly, taking his hand.

Inuyasha smiled faintly, holding her bag in his free hand. _I can never stay properly angry with her_, he thought bemusedly as they jumped into the well together.

Towards the north of the country, in feudal Japan, there was a range of mountains. The air over the mountains was thick and heavy, reeking of foul things. Those with holy powers called it an evil miasma; normal folk were simply repelled.

Nestled deep within the choking fog was a palace, small yet seemingly unaffected by the miasma. All around it was death and dying, yet it seemed untouched—save for the fog that shrouded its corridors, and the howls of the demons that infested it.

"Has there been any word yet?" said Kagura, narrowing her red eyes as she stared at the young-looking girl in front of her.

Kanna shook her head silently, swinging pale lavender hair. Kagura made a faint noise of disapproval and stood.

"I knew it would be a fruitless venture," she said, staring at the large door that separated her and the girl from their master. "It _must_ be better hidden than would be acceptable for the like of _him_."

Kanna simply stared straight ahead, clutching her mirror to her chest. There was nothing reflected in it as of yet; the surface was dull, shimmering with some dormant power.

Kagura sighed, sinking down to sit near the wall. "And yet he will keep trying," she said softly.

There was a brief debate as to what sort of language I ought to use here. Inuyasha is so foulmouthed, it was hard to hold back! But… I'll wait before rating it high. It'll get distressing enough, if I go through with what I have planned. First, to see if there's any reader interest…

(Yes this is a planned story. Just in case anyone would possibly want to know. Chances are it will change a lot if I do go through with it, but it will still follow the basic outline I have set down…)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any of the characters within. If I did, doubtless I would not be writing fanfiction, hm? (This disclaimer covers Chapter one, too)

"Have you sensed anything?" Sango asked Miroku as they walked slowly back towards Kaede's hut. As a houshi, he would be the one most likely to feel something out of the two of them. Even if he wasn't really much of a houshi…

"Nothing," said Miroku grimly. "If I didn't trust Kaede-sama, I would almost think it was some sort of lie. But it has been quiet for far too long."

Sango sighed. Not too long from now they would be traveling again, up to the village from which the reports had come. Though, if the reports were to be believed, there probably wasn't much of a village left. She slowed down somewhat as the path led them closer to the village—Miroku was oddly silent, and his hands were staying where she could see them, which was always a good thing.

After a moment, Miroku spoke softly. "Eh… Sango."

She turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"Do you wonder if… if this is a trap," said Miroku slowly, "and Naraku's just waiting for us somewhere in that village?"

"Well, I had thought of it," she said, wondering what had prompted this sudden change of manner in him.

"And… if it was," Miroku continued slowly, "if there's a chance that we might all perish in the battle to come…"

_Is he going somewhere with this?_ Sango wondered briefly. _If it is a trap we'll just have to…_ suddenly her eyes widened. _Oh, kami, he couldn't mean… that…_

"Houshi-sama," she said softly, watching his violet eyes—what sort of expression was _that_? She couldn't make it out. She suddenly realized she was blushing and tried unsuccessfully to stop.

"Well, I was wondering if…" his voice broke off as the tiny form of Shippou suddenly came bounding towards him from ahead—the direction he hadn't been looking in. He put up both hands as he stumbled backwards, and one of his arms just happened to connect with a certain area of Sango's chest…

He landed on his back on the ground, with Shippou on his stomach, and just barely avoided the butt of Hiraikotsu. "I swear, Sango, this time it was an accident!"

"Of course," she said stiffly, replacing Hiraikotsu in its usual place: slung across her back. She turned on her heel and stalked away.

Miroku watched her go with something akin to disappointment on his face. _And I didn't even get to enjoy it…_ with a sigh he turned to Shippou. "What is it, Shippou?"

The small kitsune was fidgeting as he sat upon Miroku's stomach. "Er… Kaede-baa-chan wanted to see you." He looked over at where Sango's back was rapidly retreating. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Miroku stood up slowly, hefting his shakujou. "No, Shippou. Not at all."

"Inuyasha's coming back soon, right?" asked Shippou anxiously, riding on Miroku's shoulder as the monk followed the same path that Sango had taken moments before.

"As soon as he finds Kagome-sama," said Miroku. "Which... could take awhile." He could remember times when he had remained in her world for days at a time. Whatever they had been doing for all that time was never revealed, but Miroku enjoyed toying with the possibilities. Suddenly he looked down at the small kitsune in curiosity. "Why did you come? Has something happened?"

Shippou shrugged. "Kind of. Kaede-baa-chan says that it's probably about time for us to go, but she didn't tell me why."

Inuyasha let Kagome off his back just in front of Kaede's hut. She looked around, surprised, at the evidence of Sango and Miroku's preparations—they were leaving? Large bags filled with supplies were piled up just beside the hut's entrance, with a half-asleep Kirara resting on top.

She turned to Inuyasha. "Are we going somewhere?"

He glanced down at her, startled. "Hm? Oh, yeah… some buncha idiots had their village attacked by youkai, a couple of miles away. Some things didn't seem right, so we decided to investigate."

"Not… right?" She didn't like that phrasing.

He shrugged. "Some things that they mentioned… sounded a bit like it could have been Naraku." She could hear the tension in his voice as he said the name, and couldn't help gasping.

"So you have returned?" said Miroku, approaching the hut from the direction of the forest. "That's good. We will be leaving shortly."

"Weren't we leaving soon anyway?" growled Inuyasha.

"Aye, but it seems to have grown more important of late," said Kaede, emerging from the hut. "One of the survivors recently informed me that the attackers were going to return to the site of the village, and that they were searching for something… on behalf of a spider."

There was silence, broken only by the sound of Shippou's gasp. Sango was standing behind Kaede; probably she had already heard this new piece of information."

"So it was Naraku after all," Kagome whispered at last.

Inuyasha grinned. "Hah. This'll just give us another opportunity to finish him off once and for all." He looked around at the others. "Well come on, let's go!"

"Indeed," said Miroku, nodding, as Sango went to the bags and Kirara. He looked at Shippou, who was still on his shoulder. "You," he told the small kitsune, "are staying here."

Shippou's green eyes instantly narrowed. "Why?" he asked. "I want to go with you!"

Miroku shook his head. "You'll be safer here with Kaede-sama. If these attacks are what we are fearing, then it would be for the best if you remained in the village."

"I agree," said Kaede, standing in the doorway of the hut. "Besides, I'm sure there are more interesting things for you to do than tag along with this expedition."

Kagome turned back to Kaede before climbing onto Inuyasha's back.

"Bye!" she said, waving. "See you soon!" _With any luck_, she added in her mind. Naraku's schemes always took longer than they originally seemed to at first. But they would make it through; she refused to allow any doubt of that to enter her mind. After all, maybe it wasn't even Naraku to begin with. It could just be some lesser youkai making trouble—though the spider reference was disturbing.

With her arms wrapped around Inuyasha's shoulders, she could feel his body moving beneath his haori as he leaped away from the ground. Kirara, transformed with Miroku, Sango and the second bag of supplies on her back, also flew up into the air, with fire wreathing all round.

Swift goodbyes were exchanged, and Kaede watched the disappearing group for several seconds before turning and reentering the hut.

Before even coming within sight of the village, it rapidly became evident that something was wrong. Below them were simply treetops, swaying gently in the wind; the farther towards the horizon they went, the less movement was visible. Also, there were gathering clouds up ahead: the deep gray undersides typical of thunderstorms were already visible. As they neared the area, the shadow these clouds cast on the ground grew thicker. There was a distinct line on the trees below, a clearly defined border where the light ended and the shadow began.

"It's so dark," whispered Kagome as they approached. Inuyasha snorted.

"At least it'll be cooler down there," he said. "This heat is disgusting."

Kagome could feel her temper beginning to fray, likely due to the proximity of the wall of shadow. Didn't he understand at all? "Well maybe if you didn't insist on wearing that haori all the time it wouldn't be so hot," she retorted.

"Why, would you rather I took it off?" he said. She could almost hear the smirk in his voice, and would have said something else if at that very moment they hadn't passed into the shadow.

It was as if night had fallen prematurely. If she looked back, she could see the sunlight shining on the trees behind them; if she looked ahead, it was as dark as a moonless night. Darker, even, since there were no stars: only the leaden grey underbellies of the clouds overhead. She gave an involuntary shiver and fell silent. Oddly, there was no wind; the group was flying (or, in Inuyasha's case, leaping) through still air.

"This weather is unnatural," Miroku commented as Kirara passed by close to the pair.

"D'you think?" said Inuyasha scathingly.

"I don't think this is simply a byproduct of the attacks, Inuyasha," said Miroku. "I would be on my guard, if I were you."

Houshi-sama, the village!" Sango interrupted, pointing. Immediately he turned to see.

"Kami," he breathed. "This is…"

(¸.·'´(¸.·'´(¸.·'´¤¤'·.¸)'·.¸)'·.¸)

A few brief notes (which, for the record, go for both this chapter and the next:

_Wasuresaru_ means forget; _youjutsusha_ means magician/sorceress. As for Miroku's spell (next chapter), I pretty much invented it. If it's very badly wrong, then corrections would be appreciated. I'm new to this. (oh… and taijiya is youkai (demon) exterminator, and ofuda are Miroku's spell-scrolls—those bits of paper he's always throwing around… yeah, those)

And yes… this is indeed my old story. I changed it heavily-- right down to its original concept, and I suppose that if I ever do continue it, I can take it in whatever direction I choose. Yey.


	2. Two

The village could no longer be described as such. It had been razed to the ground, so much so that not even foundations remained; the odd timber jutted up from the ground here and there, at strange angles, but aside from that, the ground was completely flat. 

"It's as if a giant Oni simply reached out and squashed it," said Sango softly. "Right into the ground."

Inuyasha landed on the ground in the centre of the village but didn't let Kagome down. When she looked at the ground, she saw the reason why: there was not a single inch of ground not covered in rubble; whether it be stones from the houses, splintered bits of wood, or… other things. She saw a small cloth doll, torn in half at the waist, and clutched at Inuyasha more tightly.

"Do you… smell anything?" she asked him as Kirara descended more slowly. From what she could see, he had a very odd look on his face, as though he couldn't quite figure out what to think.

He swallowed once before answering. "I… I don't know. I think… people did die here, I'm sure of it. But all I can smell is smoke."

"That's strange," said Sango, climbing off Kirara. "There's no evidence of fire…"

"Though if we look, I'm sure we'll find evidence of death," said Miroku grimly, stepping down as well. "Lots of it. Are you sure you don't smell anything, Inuyasha?"

"Look, if I did, I wouldn't be bloody standing around like this," Inuyasha growled. He was very put-off by this place. Aside from the all-pervading stench of smoke that all but blotted out anything else, the ground felt… weird. The rubble he was standing on had an almost soft feel to it, as if it were not wood and stone at all but something else… the fact that people had undoubtedly died here, and most likely been buried beneath the debris he was now standing on, did not help him any.

Kagome looked around. Considering that the nearest thing to her face right now was Inuyasha's hair, she felt that she was concentrating on the situation at hand remarkably well. Perhaps it was odd, for her to feel so distracted by it; it seemed almost to glow in the darkness, a bright, shining silver. She wondered briefly what he would do if she were to reach up and…

But that was absurd. Just look at where they were—in the middle of all these ruins, possibly already snared in one of Naraku's traps…

"Well," said Miroku, breaking the silence she hadn't noticed until now, "I suppose we'd better begin searching for clues."

_This seems like a worse idea every second_, thought Kagome, swallowing. "Inuyasha, put me down."

He glanced back at her, eyes narrowing. "Why the hell would you want me to do that?"

Kagome bit back an angry retort—_can't he do anything without being rude?_—and replied in a calm voice, "because, if there's something in this village, you'll need to be able to move freely, and you won't be able to if you're carrying me."

"Keh!" he said, not loosening his grip on her legs one bit. "And what do I do if whatever here attacks _you_? How do you suggest I protect you then?"

Kagome's eyes widened even as he turned his head again, leaving her to face a mass of silver hair. She tried to remember exactly what he had just said. _Was he… could have been…_

Inuyasha snorted quietly as his foot sank deep into the ground, and he pulled it out hurriedly, wincing at the feel of sticky wetness slightly below the surface of the rubble. Smoke was all he could smell, but he was sure he'd felt something down there that was shaped uncomfortably like a human… and Kagome wanted to be let down? _Baka,_ he thought, almost angrily. _She ought to learn to leave well enough alone. It's not as if I've ever had trouble carrying her before, is it?_

But there were more pressing problems. Like why he couldn't smell anything but smoke. Now he _knew_ it wasn't right; he couldn't even smell Kagome on his back, and he ought to have been able to no matter how saturated the air was. Something was amiss, and until he found out what it was, he wouldn't let Kagome off his back…

Why did his mind keep coming back to that? He growled, kicking aside a lump of wood as he sped up in his walking. _Damn it, even my mind's going in circles! What the hell is going on here?_

"Inuyasha," called Miroku, walking slightly behind him. "At least try to remain close to the rest of us. If something is here we should all remain together."

Inuyasha didn't reply, just kept walking at the same pace. Miroku sighed and glanced back at Sango. She at least didn't seem to be affected by the strange feel of the place; walking somewhat uneasily over the too-soft ground with Hiraikotsu slung over her back, she didn't look unnerved so much as wary. If something happened, she would be ready.

Kagome shivered as they passed what might have once been a hut. Now it was nothing but a mass of broken wood, sagging against the ground as if half-rotten. Now that they were out of the sunlight, it was getting cold. And their surroundings didn't help… she had the feeling that she would still be shivering even without the chilly breeze.

_It's either too hot or too cold_, she thought in annoyance, pressing her cheek against the red fabric covering Inuyasha's back. _Can't the weather ever just stay in a happy medium?_

Suddenly she shivered again. "Oh, great."

Inuyasha craned his neck to look back at her. "What is it, wench? You cold?"

She resisted the impulse to snap at him—_of course I'm cold, you idiot!_—in favor of more important things. "I can feel the aura of a youkai!"

Suddenly Miroku was beside them, looking around with his shakujou clutched in one hand. "Where?" he asked in a low voice, as Sango joined them with Kirara.

"Nearby," said Kagome, shivering again. Why couldn't she stop? It wasn't _that_ cold, or _that_ unnerving. "It's coming from near that hut!"

Sango began to take Hiraikotsu down from her shoulder, but before she could, something hissed through the air and slammed into her shoulder, knocking her off her feet. She struggled up, hearing Miroku shout her name and expelling a quick breath of disgust at the ground that seemed to be trying to suck in her hands. She sat up and watched with the others as a dark shape seemed to rise up out of the ground, black earth piling up on itself in a growing pillar of mud. A strange sucking noise filled the air, as if something was trying to take a deep breath through a thin reed.

"What the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked the shape as it grew and shifted, settling almost unconsciously into a fighting stance with Kagome still on his back.

The sucking noise began to break up into a strange, spasmodic noise. It took Kagome a moment to realize that the dark shape was laughing. Sango stood up slowly, trying not to reveal her disgust at the wetness now clinging to her hands. She didn't dare look down to see if there was blood on them.

"Idiots," said the voice from the shape. A pale sheen became visible from the top of the shape, slowly growing to cover the figure as its shape slowly shifted. "So you did come, after all." The ground beside it suddenly began to well up, the debris-strewn surface bubbling gently as it rose.

"I said, what the hell are you?" growled Inuyasha, his hand on the Tetsusaiga's hilt.

"I'd say it's the youkai that Kagome-sama just sensed," said Miroku tersely. "Remain on guard, Inuyasha."

"Keh! What's it look like I'm doing, bouzu?" Inuyasha yelled back angrily.

The pallor that had enveloped the thing suddenly receded, leaving behind what looked like a human… or would have if it weren't for the fact that it had no face. Kagome gasped, watching over Inuyasha's shoulder. The strange feeling she'd had earlier was receding, but it was rapidly being replaced by something else… the thing's youki, she realized now. _So it _is_ a youkai_. She couldn't seem to stop shivering.

"If you'd rather fight amongst yourselves, it's no concern of mine," said the faceless creature, "but I will not stand idly by to watch you bicker. Which one of you is Inuyasha?"

"Who wants to know?" said Inuyasha, shifting Kagome on his back. Curse that smoke! He couldn't smell anything from this thing, couldn't tell whether it was another offshoot of Naraku… the mounding of the ground beside the thing was ominous, too… he couldn't see it well enough in the darkness to tell what was going on.

The thing laughed. Its voice was remarkably clear for a thing with no mouth. "I do, fool," it said. Suddenly it raised a hand. "Now I know who to kill."

Suddenly the pile of ground beside the thing was no longer in place. Inuyasha jumped straight up with enough speed to leave Kagome gasping for air, as the spot where he had just been standing exploded in a mass of flying dirt. Kagome caught a brief glimpse of a corpse within the blast, and narrowly avoided vomiting.

"Shit," Inuyasha cursed, drawing Tetsusaiga and transforming it in one smooth movement. Looking down, he was just in time to block another dark shape from hitting him in midair. Kagome yelped as she was nearly jarred off his back.

Teeth gritted in concentration, he managed to get his feet beneath him and pushed away from the thing, feeling it give way underneath him. He landed on the ground some yards away from where he had started.

"Duck, Inuyasha!" said Miroku, tugging at the beads of his rosary. The thing stood still, its faceless head turned towards Miroku as the wind of the kazaana began to rip at the ground around it. Inuyasha dodged out of the way, cursing, as Sango ran to get out of range.

The thing laughed. It wasn't moving; the winds of Miroku's kazaana seemed not to affect it. Reams of mud tore away from the ground beside it, streaming into the hole in Miroku's right hand, but the thing remained where it stood, laughing at him.

"Inuyasha," said Kagome, tugging at his sleeve. "Let me down."

"Hell no," he said, trying to sense the Wind Scar and failing miserably. _Damn it! _He thought fiercely. _How am I supposed to sense for the kaze no kizu with this bloody smoke getting in the way? _It interfered with everything, not terribly strong but strong enough to blot out anything else. Kagome pulled on his sleeve again, snapping his attention back to her.

"I said, put me down," she said, more insistently. "You can't fight with me on your back, we've gone over this already!"

"Keh! Stupid wench! I'll put you down when I know it'll be safe, and not before!" he said, trying to refocus his senses. It was quickly becoming obvious that the kazaana wasn't working. Maybe the winds could at least take away some of the damn smoke…

"Idiot!" she yelled at him. "You'll put me down now, before you get attacked again!"

Suddenly the ground beneath them exploded into streamers of dirt that reached upwards and wrapped themselves around Inuyasha's legs before he could move. Kagome shrieked.

"Shit!" Inuyasha tried to extricate himself, with no success. Kagome seized the opportunity: as soon as his hands left her legs, she scrambled down off his back and stepped back to see in full what was happening.

The living dirt was twining around Inuyasha's torso now. Kagome swallowed hard at the sight of what looked like a human arm traveling slowly upwards along his thigh.

"Inuyasha!" said Miroku, closing the kazaana hurriedly and running over.

The thing was still laughing. Sango swung Hiraikotsu off her back, taking a couple of running steps before throwing it hard. The thing dodged it, laughing, and sent a stream of mud at her. Kirara ran over beside her and she climbed on swiftly, catching Hiraikotsu as Kirara ascended slowly.

Inuyasha ripped his arms free of the clinging mud and grinned. Miroku's kazaana had done the trick, it seemed—the air was free of the scent of smoke. He could see the wind scar as clearly as he had ever been able to during a battle—a bright gash of swirling air, located just in front of the faceless being. Raising his arms, he had enough time for a triumphant smirk before he brought the katana down. "_Kaze no Kizu!_"

The thing let out a loud keening noise as the Scar swept over him, a noise quickly replaced by the same sucking sound that had been heard earlier. Through the glare of the kaze no kizu, Kagome could see the dark shape being broken into pieces, which were quickly dispersed as the remainder of the blast swept over the ground. She gave a triumphant yell. "You did it, Inuyasha!"

Unfortunately, it had no effect on the mud trapping Inuyasha—instead, the dirt immediately writhed its way along the blade, holding it in place. Another stream was suddenly sent at Miroku, and he jumped back uselessly with yelp, unable to fully avoid it—

Until Kirara swung down from above. Sango reached down and grabbed his arm, hauling his forcibly out of the way seconds before he was hit. He was hard pressed to keep his shakujou out of the way as he climbed on, but her managed it in the end—he straddled Kirara's back, holding Sango tightly from behind. He buried his face between her shoulderblades. "Ahh, Sango… you have saved me again…"

"No time for that," said Sango, leaning forwards. "Look!"

Miroku looked. Kagome was on her hands and knees, tearing at the dirt that was still trying to swallow Inuyasha. The hanyou was struggling as well, trying to break free of the mud trapping him and having no success. "What is this?" Sango said softly, horrified. "Inuyasha _killed_ the youkai! Shouldn't the dirt be going back to normal by now?"

"Oh, shit," said Miroku in a moment of uncharacteristic profanity, as the mud behind Inuyasha and Kagome began to well up, swelling as if something just beneath the surface were trying to rise up. Kagome didn't notice at all in her frantic haste to get the still-moving muck off Inuyasha, but even from up in sky both Sango and Miroku could see the hanyou stiffen and try to turn.

"Kagome!" shouted Sango. "Behind you!"

"She can't hear you," said Miroku, his voice hurried, frantic. "Take Kirara down, quickly!"

"Kagome," said Inuyasha slowly. "Something's coming."

She looked up briefly. "All the more reason to get you out then, hm?" she said, her hands half-buried in the cold mud. She could feel… things moving inside it, and was too busy trying to quell her rising squeamishness to really pay attention.

"No, Kagome… _MOVE!_"

She looked up, startled at the sudden change in his tone of voice, and instantly screamed and jerked forwards as the cold feeling of mud spread across her back, trapping her against Inuyasha's back. She was dimly aware of him screaming her name as the faceless thing—no, a second thing, this one seemed different somehow—leaned over her.

"Idiot," it said, and she was sure that if it had a face it would have been sneering. "You can die now."

Kagome screamed, trying get out of the cold mud encasing her body. She could feel it spreading across her back, over her legs, up her arms—she could feel the stuff inside the dirt moving, and nearly fainted.

"Damn it! Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted. The thing was behind him—he could see it if he turned his head enough, but he couldn't tell what it was doing… Kagome's screams were filling his ears, and the smell of smoke was quickly returning. He struggled within his bonds, managing to get one arm out of the mud, and quickly pried the Tetsusaiga free. "Temee," he snarled, slashing blindly behind himself—he could feel Kagome pressed against her back, and knew he wouldn't hit her. The thing jumped backwards, wary of his blade.

The thing laughed. "Oh, Inuyasha, you are an amusing prey, aren't you? No wonder that spider wanted you so badly." It suddenly shot out a hand and grabbed Inuyasha's hair, pulling his head sharply back as Inuyasha winced.

"So it was associated with Naraku!" gasped Sango. She fumbled with Hiraikotsu from her perch on Kirara's back as the neko youkai began to descend. "This is one of his schemes!"

"Calm down," the thing whispered in his ear as Inuyasha snarled and tried to slash at it. He couldn't feel any breath coming from it—he could feel the smooth skin of its nonexistent face as plainly as if it were pressing against him. "This won't hurt a bit," it told him quietly. Slowly, using one finger, it traced four slow symbols on Inuyasha's forehead: _wasuresaru_. Inuyasha shivered slightly, then growled again and continued to struggle, the dark symbols plainly visible against his pale flesh before his silver fringe fell back into place and covered them.

"Something isn't right about this creature," said Miroku, watching closely as the creature bent over Inuyasha's head. "How did it resist the force of the kazaana? And how did it return after being destroyed by the kaze no kizu?"

"There'll be time for that later," shouted Sango, jumping down off Kirara's back as the neko neared the ground. She lunged at the creature, swinging Hiraikotsu. The thing jumped back, wary, and she advanced on it. Kirara landed on the ground and Miroku jumped down, holding his shakujou tightly in his fist as he ran towards Inuyasha and Kagome.

He started to dig at the mud, but stopped when the mass of mud suddenly gave way. Inuyasha fell forwards, stopping himself from falling at the last second and whirling to catch Kagome, who had long since fainted away.

"Kagome!" he yelled at her, shaking her shoulders slightly as she sagged in his arms. "Wake up, dammit!"

"Don't shake her," said Miroku. "It's only the shock. Focus on the problem at hand, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha lowered her slowly to the ground, then stood and glared over at where Sango was threatening the dirt-being with Hiraikotsu.

"What's your connection to Naraku?" she asked it. "The _spider_ you mentioned earlier."

It shrugged casually. "Oh, that. Nothing really… it just asked me to dispose of you. _Him _in particular," it said, gesturing towards Inuyasha, who was striding slowly towards them with Tetsusaiga in hand.

"Move, Sango," he told her calmly, and raised the katana.

"Wait!" she yelled at him. "We need to find out what its purpose here was—ah!" She dodged out of the way as Inuyasha brought down the sword in one fast stroke, rolling as she hit the ground and jumping to her feet hurriedly behind him in time to watch the second youkai dissolve within the kaze no kizu.

"Damn it, what's wrong with you!" she shouted at him as soon as she had gotten her breath back. "Don't you realize the amount of information that we could have got out of…"

Her voice trailed off as the Tetsusaiga hit the ground with a small thud. Inuyasha followed suit within seconds, collapsing slowly to sprawl on the too-soft ground. A shout from behind her signaled Kagome's awakening, and moments later, the younger girl was on her knees beside Inuyasha, trying vainly to wake him.

"Wh-what happened?" said Kagome frantically, trying to turn him over. "Did something happen while I was unconscious? Why is he like this?"

"Well this is disturbing," said Miroku, walking over slowly. "I must assume that this has something to do with whatever that youkai was writing on him. It must have been his purpose from the start."

"Writing?" said Kagome, confused. "He wrote something? What did he write?"

Miroku knelt beside Inuyasha and pushed aside his bangs. He hissed in surprise.

"What is it?" asked Sango, coming over to look too.

"There is nothing here," said Miroku. "And yet, I could see that there was something earlier… This is a bad sign."

"Why?" asked Kagome, suddenly afraid. "What does it mean?"

Miroku stood up before answering. "Generally writing that vanishes after being written indicates a spell of some sort, in which the tangible evidence of its making fades once the spell has been been completed." He paused. "That this one has faded would indicate that the spell is now in effect."

"But… what will it do to him?" asked Kagome, looking down at Inuyasha. He didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects—aside from the unconsciousness, of course. His face was peaceful, relaxed almost.

"There is no way of knowing that at this stage," said Miroku grimly. "If I could read what he had written, of course, it would be another matter…"

"But it's gone," said Kagome softly, completing his statement. She looked down at Inuyasha, sadly. Her next words were a whisper. "What do we do now?"

Kaede sighed heavily. It was difficult to count all the times that the group had returned with one of them gravely injured, and most often it was Inuyasha who had fallen. But this time was different—look as she might, she couldn't find a single injury on his body. This fit in with Miroku's theory of a curse of some sort, and it disturbed her more than it would have had the hanyou been gravely wounded.

"You are sure that none of ye could see what this creature had written?" she asked them. All were sitting within Kaede's hut, including the now-whimpering Shippou. Kagome sat near Inuyasha's head, toying idly with a strand of his silver hair as he lay prone. Her now very dirty yellow backpack was lying on the ground near the wall. She shook her head in response to Kaede's question, as did the others.

"Kagome-sama was stuck behind Inuyasha," said Miroku, "and I and Sango were on Kirara—too far away to see clearly."

"So much has been said already," said Kaede. "But can thou give me the details of what happened during the fight? Thou hast said the creature mentioned the Spider."

"Yes," said Sango. "While it was putting the writing on Inuyasha, it mentioned that the spider wanted him."

"I noticed something odd," said Miroku, leaning forwards in his seat. "After it had placed the spell on Inuyasha, it didn't seem to put up much of a fight. In fact, I believe that it voluntarily released Inuyasha from his confinement."

"Indicating that the spell was its purpose right from the start," said Kaede.

"Also telling us that it was not a mercenary," said Sango. "It all but allowed Inuyasha to kill it; if it were hired it should have valued its life more."

"Unless the kaze no kizu didn't really work on it," said Miroku. "Remember, it came back after he attacked it the first time."

"No it didn't," said Kagome. She frowned slightly when Miroku and Sango stared at her with identical expressions of puzzlement. "You… didn't notice?" she said.

"Didn't notice what?" said Miroku, frowning.

"The one that put the spell on Inuyasha was a different one," said Kagome. "It… it felt different, somehow. I could sense it."

"Well that's news," said Sango, looking down at Hiraikotsu thoughtfully. "No wonder it was so wary of his sword… I was curious for a minute, because if it came back, it must have meant that kaze no kizu didn't work…"

"That also means that there could be more," said Miroku, his brow furrowing. "Or that there is something controlling them… they could be like Naraku's golems."

"You mean that there could be something controlling them from far away?" said Kagome. She hadn't even thought of that. The thought that this might be the case was not very comforting… what if there were more of them? If the thing hadn't been suicidal, they might not have beaten it, but it was raising so many questions now…

And what if whatever was controlling them decided not to bother with spells and come to kill Inuyasha? She had the awful feeling that they wouldn't be able to stop it twice. Especially if there were many of them.

"Hm." Kaede stood up. "Well, the most pressing matter at the moment is probably determining the nature of the spell that has been placed upon Inuyasha."

Kagome looked up at her hopefully. "There's a way to find out what it is?" If there was, then they could probably find a way to counteract it… Inuyasha probably wouldn't wake up until the spell had either run its course or been taken off, and just sitting back and allowing the spell to do its work was an idea that didn't appeal to her much.

"There are a few ways to uncover the purpose of a spell after its placement," said Miroku. "Most take some time, however, and quite a few are none too pleasant…"

"Is there some way we can prevent the spell from doing its work until we find a way to lift it?" asked Sango. This situation was making her uneasy. She was a taijiya, not some sort of youjutsusha, and all this talk about spells and curses was outside her experience. Why that thing had to be some sort of spellcaster she didn't know; this was the first time Naraku had ever done this sort of thing, and having him show new strategies and methods of fighting was something else that she didn't like. Did it mean Naraku was growing stronger again?

Kaede remained silent. Miroku paused for long moments before answering. "I may know of a spell that removes curses… but without knowing what that creature has cast, I have no way of knowing what my spell would do when combined with whatever is affecting Inuyasha. It could have the opposite reaction to what we desire; it could even kill him."

Kagome pressed her fist to her mouth, trying not to cry. What could they do? What if Miroku cast his spell and it… if it killed Inuyasha… she didn't know what she would do. And all through this, he still hadn't woken up. Maybe, just maybe, he knew what had been done to him—maybe he knew what the spell was. It would be a bit of along shot, as he'd never expressed any interest in the workings of magic, but… Kagome watched his still face, so calm in unconsciousness, and willed him to wake up.

Nothing.

"What is the spell?" Sango was asking Miroku. "Perhaps we could try it… doing _something_ is better than nothing, at least."

"I believe it is called jokyokijutsu," said Miroku slowly. "I have never performed it myself, though I have heard of it."

"Jokyokijutsu?" said Kaede, staring down at Miroku with her single eye wide. "I have heard this before… though I can't recall where…"

"How does it work?" said Sango impatiently. "The sooner we _do_ something, the better."

"For the most part," said Miroku, "it operates only on written spells; which suits our purpose, it would seem. However…"

"Well?" said Sango.

"I don't know all of the details of its working," said Miroku. "But I'm sure that if I could ask Mushin, he could tell me."

"Mushin-sama?" Sango frowned. "But isn't that a bit far?"

"It is," said Miroku grimly. "But it's all that I can think of at the moment."

"But by the time you come back, the curse on Inuyasha might be completed!" said Kagome. Would they never find a solution? Every turn they made, some new obstacle was in their way. Shouldn't Kaede know something? She was a miko, and she had experience… But Kaede was still silent, watching the proceedings without contributing any information. _Perhaps_, Kagome thought sadly, _this is outside of her knowledge, too. I'm supposed to be a miko as well, and I have no idea of what's going on._ Shippou was watching the proceedings with the same look of hopelessness on his face.

"It's our only chance," said Miroku. He stood up swiftly. "I might be able to create an ofuda that will slow down the curse on Inuyasha—that ought to be safe enough." He looked down at Sango. "Sango, may I borrow Kirara?"

Sango stood too. "I will go with you, houshi-sama." _I can't stand this helpless feeling any longer, darn it!_

Miroku looked at her, surprised. "Oh, Sango…"

She glared at him. "Don't be getting any ideas, houshi-sama! I'm going for my own reasons!" _Sama is a bit much when it comes to him_, she thought grumpily.

"Please, hurry," said Kagome.

"Of course," said Miroku.

It was the work of a few minutes for him to draw up a single ofuda. He allowed Kagome to place it on Inuyasha—anywhere would be fine, he assured her, so long as it was in contact with his body. After a moment's thought, she placed it on his chest, right in the middle of his red haori.

A few more minutes later, she, Shippou and Kaede were watching as the fire that surrounded Kirara's paws and tails receded into the darkening sky. Kaede turned and entered the hut to check on Inuyasha; Kagome remained outside for a little bit longer.

_Please, Miroku, hurry up,_ she thought. _I don't ever want to know what that spell was…_

The village was aflame. Huts were burning, thick timbers blackening and growing brittle before falling to pieces with cracking noises. The air was filled with smoke, thick heat from the flames, and the sounds of screams mingled with the noise of the fire itself. If Inuyasha hadn't been to busy, he might have been annoyed at the wave of sound that roared within his skull, beating at his demon senses with furious intensity as if berating him for the crime he was committing.

The orange glow of flames shone softly off the walls of the hut he was entering. A grin crossed his face as he stared at it, at his prize: the Shikon no Tama. It was resting on a small deep violet cushion, where he knew it was kept—he'd seen Kikyou placing it there, time and time again, whenever she…

He forced the thought of Kikyou out of his head before it could cloud his mind with rage again. All that she was now was a reminder of his purpose here—to take the jewel. Then he would kill her, kill the bitch who had tried to slay him, and then he could leave this place forever.

She had betrayed him! Every time he thought about it, a cold, hard feeling rose in his throat. She had told him she would meet him, use the jewel to make him human, and then they could live peacefully together… no more violence, no more hatred for him; and she would be a normal woman for the first time in her life. When he arrived in the clearing to see her angry face and the arrows that stuck quivering in the tree near his head, his first instinct was to fall down and simply die right there. But a moment later it was swallowed by the anger… the irate, burning hatred that forced him out of the clearing, away from _her_, using youkai speed to take himself as far away as possible. And when the anger had receded enough for him to think once more, he had turned around and headed for the village to claim what was his. The jewel.

Striding forwards, he reached out and seized it up unceremoniously. The moment his hand closed around the cold glassy surface, he was moving… only he wasn't really. The world shifted and swirled around him, and a small voice spoke up in the back of his head: _this isn't right_. But it was lost moments later in the renewed rush of hatred as the world stopped moving and he found himself in the forest. He didn't even have time to regain his bearing before a voice cried his name, calling his attention. Even as he turned he felt the impact against his chest.

The blow knocked him back against the hard trunk of a tree. _Goshinboku_, he thought dazedly. It took a moment for the pain to set in. The jewel fell from his hand and he clutched at it uselessly, hardly able to lift his arm as a strange numbness swept over his body.

And then _she_ was there. "Kikyou…" he whispered, forcing his eyes up to look at her. If he was going to die here, he had to see her still… not for the sake of the love that they had once shared, but to convey to her the hatred that she had brought upon herself with her betrayal. She was lowering her bow, glaring back at him with a fury that almost rivaled his own. As the edges of his vision frayed and the world began to come apart at the seams, she knelt to pick up the fallen jewel.

_Something_… was his last thought. _Something's wrong_…

:00:00:

Kagome drew her knees up beneath her body, heedless of the coarse wood rubbing against her bare legs. She was getting worried—never mind that Inuyasha hadn't woken up yet, he had begun to moan in his sleep and now was moving restlessly. It looked as though he was having some sort of nightmare…

She wished more than anything that she could simply reach out and shake him awake… but she knew that it wouldn't do anything. If they couldn't wake him up earlier, she wouldn't be able to now… But that didn't make it any easier to watch him suffer.

Determined to make a go at it, she rose up on her knees and reached out towards him. Placing a hand gently on his shoulder, she shook him lightly.

"Inuyasha," she said softly.

Suddenly he moaned, turning his head to the side, and she sat bolt upright as she heard his hoarse voice whispering… "Kikyou…"

_He's dreaming… about her_, she thought, pressing a hand to her mouth. _But it's a nightmare… what can I do?_

For a few more moments she sat and watched him as he turned his head back to its original position.

Suddenly, and without any warning at all, his eyes opened and she found herself transfixed by an amber gaze.

"You're awake!" she said, sagging with relief. "Oh, I was so worried…"

In an instant he was on his feet, glaring at her balefully. She paused, startled by his reaction. "Inuyasha, what…"

"Kikyou," he said, his voice thick with loathing. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"

Kagome sat, stunned. "Wh—_Kikyou_?" she said, unable to think of anything else.

"You _bitch_!" he snarled, flexing his claws. "I'll kill you!"

She scrambled to her feet, eyes wide as he prepared to strike. "W-wait! What are you talking about?"

"Shut up!" he said, amber eyes flashing coldly as he regarded her. "I don't owe you any answers! Do you think I'd still care for you? Well you pretty much gave up any claims on my affection when you tried to _kill_ me!"

_He thinks I'm Kikyou_, thought Kagome dazedly, not moving. _Again._ She cringed as he began to move.

Inuyasha crouched, started his lunge—and then stopped abruptly, falling to one knee with a loud thud. Upon hearing it, Kagome looked up, startled.

"I-Inuyasha?"

He stared into the ground, managing to remain kneeling rather than falling over, panting slightly as waves of blinding agony slammed through his head. _Wh-what_…? was all he could think. _What's… wrong with me?_

"Are you… are you okay?" asked Kagome, stepping closer. He heard her soft footstep and lashed out immediately. She shrieked and jumped back.

Before she could try again, he was upright, swaying precariously on his feet, one hand to his head. "Don't come near me, _bitch_," he growled, snarling through the pain. "If you want to find another poor sap to deceive and betray, it won't be me!"

"Wait!" said Kagome in dismay, not quite realizing his intent until he had already turned towards the door. "I'm not…"

But her voice couldn't keep up with his youkai speed, however weakened he was, and she was left staring at an empty doorway in dismay, her words trailing off as she finished her sentence to no one. "I'm not Kikyou…"

(¸.·'´(¸.·'´(¸.·'´¤¤'·.¸)'·.¸)'·.¸)

:0:

...Next chapter is in progress. But since I hardly expect to be putting out 26 pages each go, I've split up the current story into two chapters.

It should be clear by now that I'm really bad at updating, yes?


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